Barely Breathing
by Average Everyday Sane Psycho
Summary: Thinking Spinelli died Maxie decides instead of flipping out she would just get out. Fleaing town she winds up in Canada where she makes a brand new start and an unlikely friendship
1. Prologue

**Barely Breathing**

**This fic started being written in late Aug 2009 as a colab between myself and jayhogartismyangel after we'd been reading blind items and rumors on the GH Carnival of Horrors plotline. My co-writer's been MIA and so I've decided to bring this fic to fresh eyes and see if there is any interest in this verse. It is set AU during the aforementioned Carnival plot in the GH verse and sometime AU post Degrassi Goes Hollywood in the Degrassi Verse…**

**x-x-x-x-x-x-**

The imagery of the moment played over and over in her mind like a bad movie.

He promised he wouldn't leave her like the rest. Promised he'd be her husband...one day...when she was ready to take that step. So many promises and yet they were all gone in the blink of an eye...

_"Come on," she had said sitting on the edge of his bed just hours earlier, "it will be fun."_

_He rolled his soulful eyes at her like she had been a madwoman._

_"Fun, says who...didn't your beloved Jesse die at a carnival."_

_Maxie nodded sadly._

_"That was like three years ago, and besides he was a cop he could of died in the line of duty tons of other places and besides I don't dwell in the past."_

_He nodded._

_"You're just not wanting to go because you still have that ridiculous fear of clowns admit it."_

_"W-well."_

_Maxie let out a devious laugh._

_"Come on," she had said dragging him to the local drug store which had already set up their Halloween display and insisted that he faced his fears and dressed like a clown._

That was their last happy memory...one she'd cherish forever as after that things went black...

At this present moment she felt like her entire would was crashing down like a house of cards.

_"He's dead," Mac's voice had told her as Spinelli's body lay on the cold ground of the park._

_"NO," Maxie has screamed at the top of her lungs, "he promised me he wouldn't leave me."_

_Mac put an arm around her._

_"I told you being with Spinelli would lead to someone getting hurt...better him then you."_

Pushing away from her father she screamed and cried...cried and screamed and decided instead of staying in town falling into a downward spiral of destruction she thought that she'd prove to Spinelli that she was better than that which was why she was heading to the bus station to head off to Canada.

Little did she know however that Spinelli was not as dead as Mac had told her. No, he had recently been loaded into an ambulance where he was clinging to life...

**TBC**


	2. Chapter 1

**Barely Breathing**

Maxie Jones stretched her arms above her head as she situated herself in her seat. The bus had been driving for hours now. Sleep would be a good way to pass the time until she got to her destination but she found herself unable to. Every time she closed her eyes, she remembered what had led her here. The whole thing with Spinelli had been heartbreakingly similar to when Jesse was shot at the last carnival. Even the outcome was the same. They were both dead.

She lifted a hand to cover her eyes, not wanting the other passengers on the bus to see her tears. She was tired of everything going wrong in her life and she was tired of self-destructing every time it did. Toronto was her chance to start over, to be the best person she could be-the person that Damian Spinelli had believed her to be. She was going to make him proud.

The bus finally stopped. And she opened her eyes as she watched the other passengers clamber off of the bus with their luggage. With a final sigh, she grabbed her suitcase, and stepped off of the bus. She had no idea where she'd go. She didn't even know her way around here! She looked down at the shoes that she wore and frowned. Heels. There was no way she'd be able to walk for miles in these things.

Her eyes fell on a garage and widened hopefully. Perhaps she could charm one of the mechanics into giving her a ride to a hotel. Smiling smugly she hurried inside.

"I know, Boo. I can't wait to see you this weekend either." Jay Hogart said into the phone, talking to his long distance girlfriend Manny Santos who was off at college at the moment. He heard the click of footsteps and turned his head to the right to see some preppy little blonde girl walking towards him. "Hey Manny? I got to get off the phone. I've got a customer. I love you. Bye." He shut off his phone with a sigh and turned back to the blonde. "Hey, how can I help you?" He asked, wiping his greasy hands on a towel.

Maxie's nose wrinkled as she stood, silently looking around the garage. She didn't seem to be aware that he'd spoken.

"Yo, Blondie!" He half shouted, half snapping his fingers in front of her face in annoyance. Who the hell did this skinny little Barbie doll think she was?

Her head snapped up and she glared at his rudeness. "My name is not Blondie, delinquent!" She ground out as her blue eyes flashed in a way that Spinelli would have said was pure, Bad Blonde One.

"I could care less what your name is. All I want to know is why you're here, wasting my time if all you're going to do is stare around here in disgust. This is my job you know and I really don't feel like having my boss fire me for something that isn't my fault. Jay told her carefully, trying to keep his voice down.

"For your information, Jason Hogart.." She said in a snarl as she read his name tag. "My fiancé died so I decided to come to this place instead of self-destructing like I always seem to do! I was going to ask for a ride to a hotel but I think I'd rather walk!" She swirled around, heels screeching against the ground as she began to stalk away.

At those words he dropped the towel he'd been using and walked towards her briskly, gripping her arm. "Wait." He swallowed hard and averted his eyes from her cold, sad looking blue one's-eyes that looked as if the very life had been drained from her soul. He supposed that that would be what his eyes would look like if he were to lose Manny to something as horrible as death. "I'll give you the ride. You just...have to wait here for maybe a half hour. I have some work to finish before I can close shop."

Maxie looked at him and nodded, mumbling a thank you beneath her breath as she went to sit on a milk carton that sat in a corner of the garage.

Jay turned back towards the car he was working on and stuck his head in the hood. "I'm sorry about your fiancé." His muffled voice said as he checked the oil in the car. He looked up to see blue eyes that had warmed slightly.

"Thank you." Maxie murmured softly, folding her small hands in her lap and leaning her head against the wall. It was then that she realized that none of her friends at home had bothered to tell her that.

**TBC**


	3. Chapter 2

**Barely Breathin**g

She realized she must have dosed off sometime between arriving at the garage and that moment because she soon heard a male voice that sounded close up talking to her.

"Hey Blondie," he said as she popped open her blue gray eyes blinking a bit to take in the view.

"Didn't I tell you my name is not Blondie," she spoke as she crossed her arms across her chest.

Though she really didn't want to fight with him. For starters he was remotely good looking and perhaps in a different time she'd be coming onto him, begging for him to let her use him for grief sex. However on the other hand he did show her that little extra ounce of compassion that no one back home showed her. Really Lulu so could of texted her when she saw Maxie's letter.

His face meanwhile twisted into an adorable scowl as he ran his hands through his messy hair.

"You did miss, but in my defense you never did tell me your name."

She let out a sigh, feeling like a complete and utter idiot wondering if she should give this garden variety grease monkey her real name or if in embarking on this new adventure she should come up with some alias, or if not, at least go by HIS name.

"Maxie," she said holding out her hand.

"Maxie, do you have a last name, or is it one word like Madonna."

She let out a laugh which she swore was the first one she let out since the Carnival. As she wondered what spell this Jason Hogart had cast upon her she opened her mouth wondering what last name her brain would make her mouth speak.

"Jones," she said, "Maxie Jones."

He grinned his devil may care grin back to her as still dressed in his greasy coveralls he picked up a hat from the ground and placed it backwards on his head.

In her mind she thought he was a fashion travesty but she really didn't care to argue as he then put out his hand to help her up.

"Thanks," she said standing up on her high heeled feet and reaching for her bag before heading out of the safety of Tony's garage and out into the wilds of the unknown.

She sat in the car moments later buckled up in the front seat silently before he turned to look at her.

"So, do you have a reservation for someplace or…"

She shook her head thinking that this trip was taken on total impulse and she really didn't have anything plotted out with the exception of buying a bus ticket to Toronto and winging it from there.

"No, no reservations, I just am looking for a nice hotel that isn't so overtly expensive that I blow all my money in less than a week."

"That narrows it down considerably," he spoke grinning before he took off his hat and once again began to mess with his hair, "I have an idea."

This Jason Hogart character seemed like the kind of guy whose ideas leaned more toward the illegal side like another Jason she knew who had been her fiancé's friend, mentor, roommate and a laundry list of other things.

_'God Jason must be going through a worse hell then I am,'_she unselfishly thought to herself before looking back at the man in the driver's seat.

"And your idea is."

"Why don't you spend the night at my place?"

Maxie rolled her eyes wondering if this was really happening.

"Spend the night, how do I know you're not some serial rapist Jason."

He grinned.

"Please, call me Jay...anyway if you thought that Maxie then you wouldn't have waited in the garage for a ride and you would have simply called a cab company."

"Touché," she said smiling as she wondered what seedy place he lived in though for one night she was sure it would suffice.

"So, now that we got your living arrangement settled at least for the night, tell me Maxie, have you ever been in a car with 16 independent speakers."

He bit his lip remembering using that line on Emma what seemed like ages ago though knowing that the outcome of this evening was much more innocent than way back when.

Looking over to him she shook her head thinking about the limos, the mob mobile, and her own car and shook her head.

"Can't say that I have."

"Well you're in for a treat," he said grinning as he flipped on the stereo.

_I want to know what love is, I want you to show me__  
><em>_I want to feel what love is, I know you can show me_

The music blared from the stereo stinging her like a thousand swords as she thought back to the night at Jake's where he sang that song to her during Karaoke.

"Turn it off," she screamed, "turn the damn song off."

He shrugged flipping off the radio.

"Turn it off Jay." She screamed as he looked over to her, "turn the damn song off."

He shrugged flipping off the radio wondering what her problem was.

"What's the matter, you don't like the song," he paused, "don't blame you on that one but you could of just asked me to change the channel."

A tear rolled down her cheek causing him to break inside wondering what he did to make yet another girl cry.

"S-sorry," she stammered, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have got you involved in all my drama."

Jay then realized she was referring to as her words from earlier rang back into his head.

_"My fiancé died so I decided to come to this place instead of self-destructing like I always seem to do!..."_

"It was your song wasn't it," he spoke gently, "yours and your fiancé's wasn't it."

"Not so much as our song, more that it invoked a memory, a REALLY good memory," as she said that she couldn't help but be reminded of when they became all hopped up on the free champagne and left Jakes to retreat to his regrettably pink room where they made love, well if you could count an all-night marathon of wild sex love making. This all had lead up to when he popped the question the first time and she had blown him off saying she had to get to work, which she did.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Shaking her head she looked up into his soothing eyes.

"Some other time."

He nodded knowing that if roles were reversed and Maxie were the one comforting him after Manny died then he probably wouldn't want to talk about it to her not even twenty four hours after meeting her.

However as they drove to his place in silence he hoped that someday he'd be able to crack her shell and help her out.

**TBC**


	4. Chapter 3

**Barely Breathing**

Jay and Maxie entered his home almost ten minutes later. Maxie seemed to be taking everything in, looking over the apartment with roving eyes. "This reminds me of a place that this guy I used to know lived." She said softly.

Jay raised an eyebrow as he sat her suitcase down on his couch. "An old boyfriend?" He asked of her.

She laughed at that and crossed her arms over her chest, shaking her head negatively. "No! Of course not. Just one of my self-destructing mistakes." She answered as she thought of Logan Hayes and how she ended up losing Cooper who'd been the best thing in her life at that time because she'd slept with him.

"Ahh." He replied, nodding his head briefly.

Maxie raised a manicured brow. "What do you mean ahh?" She asked in a defensive tone.

"Nothing." Jay said with a small laugh. "You're just beginning to remind me of myself a couple years ago." He told her carefully as he looked right at her. Amy, Emma, other girls from the Ravine. All things that caused him to lose Alex and give gonorreah to the girls he'd cheated on her with. Stealing, smoking, drinking, the prank that went so wrong with Rick Murray. Jay Hogart knew what it was like to be screwed up. He could understand her completely.

The blonde fashionista smiled bitterly and tilted her head to the side. "What? Did you feed someone pills too, to get them to love you?" She asked. Thinking of a few years ago when she'd fed Lucky's drug addiction right after Jesse had died.

"No. Not that. But I did convince this kid to steal Oxycodone from his convenience store job and sell it." He admitted guiltily. "He'd gotten his girlfriend pregnant and wanted to buy an apartment for all them to support her and their baby. I told him he could get a lot more money faster by selling drugs."

"Ooh." Maxie hissed, wincing at the thought as she took a seat on the couch, legs folding under her.

"Yeah, ooh. Anyway, his girlfriend found out and broke up with him and apparently he'd gotten in a fight with his friend. He ended up taking the Oxycodone himself and needed to get his stomach pumped." Jay said with a sigh and a shake of his head.

"That's pretty screwed up." She commented lightly.

"It is. But it is hardly the stupidest thing that I've ever done." He said with a laugh of regret.

"Tell me about it." Maxie whispered back, head lowered. She could write a novel about all those things she'd done. It would fill up a 1,000 pages, she was sure.

The two gave each other a smile of awkward understanding.

"I'm hungry," Maxie commented softly, looking up at him moments later.

"Well we could go to The Dot." Jay said to her as he grabbed his keys off of the coffee table.

She nodded in confirmation and the two left the apartment once more.

They arrived at The Dot and immediately took their seats. Maxie looked up to see a guy with brown hair and eyes and a strawberry blonde haired, blue-eyed girl look at them and then share a look from behind the counter.

The strawberry blonde came over with a pad of paper and a pen in her hand and stared at them for a few moments.

"Are you going to ask us what we want to order, Princess?" Jay asked of her, feeling a twinge of annoyance.

The girl in question put her hands on her hips and glowered at him. "Whatever grease monkey. Does Manny know that you're out with another girl?" She asked.

He gritted his teeth impatiently. "I'm not cheating on her with that's what you're implying." He shot back. "Maxie here is new in town. I'm showing her around."

She nodded her head and finally took their orders after introducing herself to Maxie as Holly J Sinclair and threatening to make Maxie's life miserable if she called her anything other than Holly J.

"Well that was interesting." Maxie commented after Holly J had brought them their drinks. She took a sip of her tea as she said this and then looked up at Jay.

Jay nodded. "That's how Holly J is with everyone. She's complicated." He explained.

**TBC**


	5. Chapter 4

**Barely Breathing**

After coming back from the Dot Maxie was genuinely feeling wiped out which was to be expected considering that within the last twenty four hours she had left her old life behind and crashed into Jay Hogart's.

"So," Jay said looking over to her, "do you want to wash up or..."

Maxie smiled thinking that despite his rough look Jay was being a pure gentleman to her which she highly enjoyed.

Nodding she smiled.

"You know, a nice shower might do me some good."

Jay nodded as he gave her directions to the bathroom and watched her pull a few things from her open bag while mentally wondering what a girl like Maxie Jones wore to bed.

"And when you're out you can crash in the guest room."

Maxie's eyes lit up.

"You have a guest room."

Jay's lips turned into a half smile as he tried to think of a way to explain it to Maxie.

"Originally when I went apartment hunting I had been under the impression that my best friend would be crashing with me."

Maxie listened to the tone in his voice which seemed to be full of a sense of upset making her think even more about her past mainly that of her time with Cooper Barrett and herself destructive and jealous tendencies that trashed what goodness was between her.

"Let me guess, you slept with his girlfriend."

Letting out a laugh he thought that Maxie had no idea.

"Well it wasn't really sleeping together, well not on her part anyway and she was in a bad place and they were on a break..."

Listening to Jay's rambling she made mental note to maybe get him to spill the details at a later date as she wondered if she found someone who was just a fucked up as she was if not more so.

"Anyway," Jay continued, "no, I didn't snake his girlfriend...no the looser decided to enlist."

Maxie just nodded as she grabbed her things.

"Thanks again for letting me crash here."

He cocked his trademark grin at her.

"I guess I just have a thing for damsels in distress Blondie."

She was too tired to make a witty comeback at him and simply headed down the hall to where the bathroom was to take a shower and go to sleep.

Her bag was still sitting in the living room area as he came back out from his own bedroom.  
>If he were a different kind of person he would have simply taken the bag and brought it down to the guest room but he was Jay Hogart and he was curious as to what made this mysterious blonde tick.<p>

Opening one bag his eyes were greeted with a few issues of some magazine named Crimson which he'd seen Manny reading a few times and placed them on the floor. The next thing he pulled out was a hard bound book that was reminiscent of a diary.

"Jackpot," he thought as he opened up the book and began to thumb through it eyeing page amongst page of poetry and sketches and photos. It was then that one said photo had caught his eye. It looked as if it had been taken in a photo booth at a mall or something and it was a picture of the blonde that was now crashed down the hall sitting next to a young man with messy brown hair and deep blue green eyes who defiantly looked to be out of her league. And yet the blonde looked happier then he'd seen her. It was then Jay realized that the guy in the picture must have been her fiancé that the book must have been a scrap book of some sort and he was defiantly imposing on a place he shouldn't have been imposing.

Stepping out of the shower Maxie made a B-line for the bedroom and immediately crashed down on the soft full sized bed lying in the room's center.

As she closed her eyes she hoped she could curl up and let her dreams soothe her however she'd be wrong:

The musical sounds of the carnival filled her head as she began to envision the scene wondering what twists and turns would transpire.

It was then she visualized her and Spinelli who had still been dressed up as a clown walking along the midway...

_"See," she has said flirtatiously as she began to stroke his painted cheek, "this wasn't so bad."_

_He let out a small laugh as he gave her that adorable look that melted her though she would never say that out loud._

_"No, you were right Maximista; facing up to my fears was the best thing to do."_

_She had smiled back at him and began to lead him toward where Ethan Lovett had been running a game, ready to ask Spinelli to win her one of those oversized stuff animals as with his superb logic he'd defiantly be the one to outsmart a carnie when suddenly loud shouts were heard followed by screams and the outbreak of gunfire._

_Spinelli's body fell to the ground, Ethan's arms wrapped around her petite frame._

_"Spinelli...no...Spinelli...no..."_  
>Jay heard her voice mumbling in her sleep and he headed to her room to see if she was alright but as she looked over at her body tossing and turning on the bed he knew she was having a nightmare.<p>

"Maxie," he spoke as he leaned over and gently tapped her shoulder as he watched her jolt up.

'So, she wore a purple spaghetti strap cotton nightgown to bed,' he thought eyeing her before silently asking to sit next to her.

She nodded as he watched tears fill in her eyes.

"He's dead, Spinelli's dead," was all she kept muttering as Jay tried to calm her down.

Meanwhile in a darkened room a muffled sound echoed in the air...

"M-Maximista," Damian Spinelli's voice muttered weakly.

**TBC**


	6. Chapter 5

**Barely Breathing**

Jay untangled himself from the blonde and went to the kitchen, coming back moments later with a glass of water and some sleeping pills. He could tell that she wasn't going to get much sleep without some help, if her dreams were any indication. "Here you go. Take these. They will help you sleep." He told her softly, watching as she complied and then drank up the glass of water. He took the empty glass from her and set it on the nightstand next to the bed before he wrapped his arms around her once more, leaning against the headboard and letting Maxie lay against him. He ran his fingers through her hair and hummed softly. Whenever he was sick or had a bad dream when he was younger, this was what his mother had done.

"Carnivals are supposed to be fun." Maxie mumbled softly as she clung to the folds of his shirt. Her blue-grey gaze was unfocused, staring off into a distance that Jay could not see.

He didn't say anything, just continued to stroke her hair. She would tell him everything when she was ready. He wasn't going to force her no matter how curious he was about the situation.

"Although." A bitter laugh escaped her lips and she pulled away from Jay to lean against the headboard in a sitting position. "I really shouldn't be surprised considering everyone I love seems to die or leave me. My cousin BJ died when she was a child in a school bus accident. I was given her heart. I was six at the time and I would've died without it. My father-my blood father was never around. My mom left to go after him. The first guy I ever cared about-Jesse died. My little sister died in my place. She was murdered. My other boyfriend, Cooper also died and that was almost two years ago. And now Spinelli."

Jay swallowed hard and he could feel the tears sting his eyes at the pain he heard in this woman's voice. He_ wished_that the pills would work already and she would fall asleep. Anything to get her to stop torturing herself over all this.

Sam McCall and Jason Morgan both jumped up at the sound of Damian Spinelli's voice. They both stood over that small hospital bed and watched as a pair of green eyes flickered open, eyeing them weakly.

"Maxi-?" The young man in the bed choked out wearily.

"Shh... calm down. Don't talk just yet." Sam's soft, soothing voice whispered as her hands smoothed over the sheets that covered his form.

He shook his head and asked, "Where is Maximista?"

And neither Jason nor Sam could reply for neither one had an idea as to where Spinelli's fiancée might be.

Thankfully, around twenty minutes later Maxie was asleep in Jay's arms much to his relief. He had no idea what he'd have done if she'd continued with that story of her's. He couldn't imagine losing so many people at such a young age. She was just a year older than him. He'd lost his mother and that had changed him a lot and was part of the reason why he was the way he was today. He wondered what Maxie would've been like if she hadn't been faced with so much tragedy and heartbreak.

**TBC**

**OK there are 10 more pre-written chapters in the can and after those I plan on maybe 1-3 more chapters to finish this off…. Let me know if I should post more/finish this or not**


	7. Chapter 6

"I know your secret." Alex stated as she fixed her with a dark glare.

Maxie swallowed hard and tried to look as innocent as possible as she fiddled with her newly dyed hair. "I...I..don't k-know what you're talking about." She stuttered nervously.

She instantly knew this was the beginning of the end. So much for the whole Tabula Rasa approach.

Sighing she watched as Alex forcefully pulled a sheet of paper out and shoved it in her face.

"I never did buy that Jay has a relative he didn't tell me so I did some research and found out there is no such person named Julie Hogart in that small upstate town you mentioned."

Tears ran down Maxie's cheek as Alex continued her tirade.

"So, you admit to being a fraud then."

Maxie nodded.

"So then if you're not Jay's distant cousin Julie then who the hell are you. I mean you can't be his chick on the side or something because that would be an obvious step down."

Maxie gritted her teeth. She resented this. She was Maxie freaking Jones and there was a time when men fought to have her in their bed. Ok so maybe that was all in her head but still she was young and hot and this whole frumpy librarian look was all a rouse.

It was then from the corner of her eyes she saw Alli and Clare standing on the outside of the MI lab and rolled her eyes.

"Miss Edwards, Miss Bhandari you might as well come in now cause I really don't want to repeat this twice."

The two niners looked at one another outside the room wondering what kind of trouble their actions were leading them into.

-

For the first time in a few days he had been able to leave the confines of his pink room and was elated when Sam agreed to meet him at Kelly's to talk.

"Your looking good," Sam said smiling as she took a seat across from her friend and partner.  
>Spinelli grinned his trademark grin while trying to repress the pain that still filled him.<p>

He had decided against taking any form of pills unless utterly necessary which he now realized wasn't the wisest of ideas.

"I look better then I feel," he said.

Sam nodded thinking back to the last conversation they had back in the hospital about Maxie.

"So, have you had any luck in tracking Maxie down."

He was the Jackal, he should have been able to tall fair Samantha that while bed ridden he had tracked down her more recent charges on her gold card and that she was seeking solace in Manhattan, LA, Paris, someplace where she felt in her element however he had nothing.

"The Jackal has come up with a dead end."

"What do you mean a dead end."

"Well the latest charge made by Maxie's credit card was to the local drug store here in Port Charles where she purchased a clown costume and make-up."

"The Carnival."

Spinelli nodded.

"Maximista is a smart one. She must of paid cash for her journey out of town."

Sam flashed a sad smile as she reached across the table. She knew that her two young friends were meant to be and that fate would bring them back together once more. After all despite what she and Jason Morgan had been through they were back together and couldn't be happier.

"What about her cell phone, have you tried to call her."

He nodded though the question of 'What to say to the love of your life who thinks your dead' still plagued him.

"Voice Mail," he simply stated to which Sam just nodded sadly.

"I'm going to find her Sam, I am going to find Maxie if it's the last thing I do."

-

The two niners were now seated in the MI lab and Alex had now taken a seat as well. The three diverse girls were intent on hearing the story the young woman before them told though none of them were prepared for the scene that befell them.

"My name isn't really Julie Hogart," she spoke biting back tears, "Julie is just an Alias, an escape. My real name is Maria Maximiliana Jones…"

She paused swallowing a lump that had formed in her throat.

"Maxie… I came here to Toronto on a whim after my fiancé died. Fate lead me to the garage, to Jay and well one thing lead to another and I decided to re-invent myself. Carpe Diem, seize the day and so Julie Hogart was a phoenix who rose from the ashes of my shambled life."

The girls continued to listen and watched as she pulled out a rumpled photograph of her former self.

"Wow," Alli said shocked at the luminescent blonde in the photograph, "you were really pretty."

Clare interjected thinking her friends comment was slightly rude.

"Not that your not pretty now."

Maxie nodded letting out a laugh thinking about her chic to geek makeover.

"No, Alli's right, I was pretty now I'm just plain jane Julie blending into the background."

As Maxie talked the trio's eyes still bore into her. She could only imagine what they were thinking. It was Alex who said the next set of words.

"I'm sorry," the woman replied with sincerity, "I'm sorry that I didn't trust you, I'm sorry about your loss. Anyway behind his bad ass exterior Jay Hogart is a great guy and he must care allot about you to be doing all this for you."

Maxie simply nodded thinking that to her Jay was like family hence the reason she decided to take his name in the first place and she was glad that Alex accepted the choices they all made.

"And don't worry, your secret is safe with me."

The older brunette eyed the two niners now with fire in her eyes.

"We promise to keep quiet too," Clare said, "right Alli."

The more fashionable of the two niners nodded.

"I promise. Anyway I know you're like our teacher and all but want to go to the mall or something Julie."

Maxie smiled accepting the younger girl on her offer and headed out.

-

A few hours later Spinelli was sitting back in the Pink Room looking back at his computer scratching his head.

There had to be some way to track down his Maximista there just had to.

She had to slip up sometime or another didn't she.

Taking a sip of the orange soda that sat before him he let out a little scream, this was so frustrating.

He was the Jackal and he knew he couldn't fail.

It was then upon refreshing the page he saw it. The answer to his prayers.

A perchance was made by one Maxie Jones at shopping mall in TORONTO!

**TBC**


	8. Chapter 7

So that was how Spinelli found himself on a plane to Toronto. After finding out about Maxie's purchase at a shopping mall there, he'd bought a plane ticket and had headed out. He wondered what he'd say to her when he met up with her again. After all, she thought that he was dead. She'd made it obvious that she didn't want to be found when she didn't tell anyone where she was going so she could be just about anywhere in Toronto. He missed her though. Desperately. He couldn't imagine what she was going through. Didn't _want_ to imagine it. Hopefully he'd be able to fix this mess.

Maxie sighed softly as she moved around the small kitchen, pouring herself a bowl of Cheerios. She yawned softly, covering her mouth and taking her seat. This was exhausting. Ever since getting her job at highschool, she'd been more tired than usual. It was as if teaching those kids had drained her off all her energy, though she knew everything that had occured since she'd come here-and even before that had something to do with it. Losing the guy she loved had been a hard blow and so had been leaving her family, but they were better off without her. She was better off here where she wouldn't be reminded of her old life daily.

"You seem deep in thought." Jay commented as he walked into the kitchen, fully dressed. He grabbed the box of cereal from the counter and began to eat it dry.

"And you're up awful early." She replied, wrinkling her nose in disgust as she watched him go over to the refrigerator and drinking the milk right out of the galleon.

"Manny's visiting today." He told her with a smirk as he put the milk back in the fridge. "Figured I should put some effort into waking up early to get ready for her."

Maxie looked away from him, dipping her spoon into her cereal and pouring it back into the bowl. "Does she know about me?" She questioned him,

Jay shook his head uneasily. "I didn't know what to tell her about you so I never said anything."

"Gee, that smart." Maxie snapped sarcastically, glaring at him. "How do you think she's going to feel when she finds out that you've had a girl staying at your house that you never told her about?"

-

Manny Santos smiled as she raced torwards the cab parked infront of the airport, yearning to get back to her hometown and to her beloved boyfriend. She reached a hand out torwards the door handle, only for her eyes to narrow as someone else reached it first. She pouted in annoyance, ready to turn around and give the person a piece of her mind.

"The Jackal is sorry about that!" A male voice spoke oddly. "I didn't know that anyone else was waiting for this vehicle."


	9. Chapter 8

"The Jackal is sorry about that!" A male voice spoke oddly snapping Manny out of her thoughts.

Tilting her head toward the offending voice she continued to listen to him speak in a stammering apologetic tone.

"I didn't know that anyone else was waiting for this vehicle."

A small smile crossed her lips as she kept looking at the disheveled young man.

He was kind of cute, well in a Toby Isaacs kind of way and there was just something about her that told her not to give him attitude.

"The Jackal?" she spat, "are you serious."

Ok so she was kind of giving him attitude but it wasn't like she was telling him to step off from her cab now was she?

"As Cancer," he said pausing as he looked at they young woman before realizing that was a tactless remark as while looking healthy as a horse from the outside who was to say this raven goddess wasn't stricken with some form of that life altering disease. However before he could give her an apologetic remark he watched her let out a little chuckle.

Perhaps she wasn't offended at all; perhaps she felt his off the cuff remark was, dare he think… charming.

"Damian Spinelli," he said holding out a hand in a form of greeting the young woman that stood before him.

"Manny," she said with a smile, "Manny Santos."

It was then he froze in place as he blinked in stone cold fashion…. Did he hear correctly… did she just say her name was Manny Santos as in Jay and Silent Bob Go Canadian Eh?, Mewsical High School Manny Santos.

Suddenly the calm, cool, collected Jackal was rendered star struck.

"It is an honor to be in your midst Miss Santos and might I say how rude it was of me to try and steal this cab from you, feel free to take it."

Manny simply smiled at the notion that she had an actual fan outside of her small circle of friends.

"Technically you were here first, and it kind of looked like you were in a hurry."

Spinelli let out a sigh.

"My matters of the heart can wait…. I could hear my granny screaming all the way from Tennessee if I wasn't a gentleman."

"Matters of the heart? So you're here for a girl?"

"Not just any girl…. My Maximista."

"She sounds special."

"She is," Spinelli began as the faint tones of Lady Gaga's Paparazzi began to echo from Manny's pocket as she held up her finger to signal for Spinelli to wait a moment.

"Hello…. yea babe I actually just landed…. I know you would of picked me up but I'm fine taking a cab…..see you then….no I love you more….."

"I take it the Jackal isn't the only one here on romantic business," Spinelli said, eyebrow raised as Manny hung up the phone.

Shaking her head she simply smiled as the cabbie rolled down the window.

"Whoever is taking this cab, the meter is running…."

"I thought Canadians were a friendly folk," Spinelli mumbled while Manny smiled.

"Well, let me show you some Canadian hospitality and share my cab with you….and if you want we can talk about your girl if you want."

"Well, the ride probably won't be long enough but alright…. But know this I don't expect you to pay the complete faire."

"Don't worry, I wasn't going to…."

TBC


	10. Chapter 9

The cab pulled up to Jay's apartment and Manny looked over to where Spinelli was sitting.

"Thank you," she said.

"What for prey tell? The Jackal chewed your ear off this whole ride you my raven goddess just listened."

"I know," Manny said with a smile handing Spinelli a wad of money for cab fare, "but I'm grateful for your company."

She smiled a bright smile at Spinelli who smiled one back at her still trying to hide his heartbreak mixed with moment of being star struck however he didn't dare ask for his companion's autograph now as she was moments away from running to the arms of her own true love.

He watched as she moved closer toward the front door as the cabbie broke his silent meditation.

"Where to?" he asked.

"Um, can we sit here a while."

"Fine but the meter is still running."

Spinelli nodded understandingly as he watched Manny some more.

X-x-x-x-x-x

Meanwhile Manny arrived at Jay's door and was about to ring the bell when she spotted what appeared to be a hand written note hanging on the door.

Manny-

I know that you are anxious to spend some time soaking in a long bubble bath and curling up in bed with me watching old movies or whatever it is you care to do to unwind after shooting what I'm sure will be a blockbuster film and I'm truly sorry that I'm not here. If you want to go inside and rest by your lonesome I understand, you know where I hide a spare key, however if you want to see my smiling face I'll be at Above the Dot and I hope to see you there.

-Jay

Folding the note and placing it into her pocket she tilted her head back out toward the street looking out toward the cab like it was some kind of sign from god or another being of higher powers.

And then she walked back toward the cab, a smile on her face taking Spinelli off guard as she opened the door.

"Manny," Spinelli spoke, "what are you doing back here, shouldn't you be inside rekindling your fiery passion with Jay."

Holding up the folded note Manny smiled.

"Change of plans, actually since you don't have any set plans other than finding your Maxie you should join me."

"Join you….."

Manny nodded.

"Fine, the Jackal will join you under one condition."

"Name it."

"That you could perhaps give me your autograph."

Manny let out a laugh.

"I think that can be arranged."

TBC

I'm sorry for the mix up in double posting this chapter. I may or may not have one more chapter saved on my other computer i'll double check tonight... if not this is all I have thus far though I hope to finish this in a timely fashion in the mean time any ideas/sugestions


	11. Chapter 10

**Only a 4 month hiatus this time my muse is sucked into the glee fandom as of present though shockingly I'm RPing as Katie in a Glee/Degrassi RP on Tumblr if anyone is interested in joining or just looking at my page let me know.**

**-x-x-x-x-x-x-**

Once Manny and Spinelli arrived at the Dot Spinelli rolled his eyes.

"Is this the place that you are meeting your man?" he asked, "because from the sound of your descriptions in the cab it sounded to me like this place was much more than a mere café."

Manny let out a laugh and pointed to the flight of steps that climbed outside the building fire escape style.

"I told you it was called Above the Dot hence it being ABOVE the DOT."

Spinelli smiled.

"Oh, even a genius like me has his moments."

Manny just let out a little laugh before the duo climbed up the steps and entered the club.

It was definitely not the kind of place Spinelli thought it would be. He thought it would be some small extension of the café but to be honest this place reminded him of Jakes…well that was if Jakes was alcohol free.

Looking out at the crowd he watched as Manny got lost in it to find her man while he began to scan around for something, anything, he didn't know what until he spotted a woman from across the room. There was just something about her, she looked like his Maximista that was if his Maximista was a brunette and wore cloths off the rack. It was then that he noticed a band playing on the stage and he had an idea…. Even if it was for a crowd of strangers he would practice his methods of wooing his woman.

**x-x-x-x-x**

Maxie was really enjoying the ambiance of the club as she was dancing around with Jay.

"I'm so glad you decided to take me here instead of kicking me out to spend a romantic evening with Manny."

Jay let out a laugh as a smirk crossed his face making him look like some deranged albeit adorable carnation of a Cheshire cat.

"Well, be prepared to be kicked out tomorrow sweetheart… Manny's only in town a few days and we need to have SOME alone time together."

Maxie just nodded as she continued to move to the music where a familiar figure caught her eye.

"No," she said in a whisper, "it couldn't be."

"What couldn't be?" Jay asked breaking Maxie from her thoughts.

"Um….nothing….can we dance a bit closer?"

Jay shrugged pulling Maxie in so they were mere inches apart as they swayed to the music when suddenly a voice rang out.

"JAY! You tell me to meet me here and I see you grinding with some…."

"She's my cousin."

"Bull."

Manny looked like she was about to pounce on the other woman when Maxie took a step back.

"You got me, I'm not Jay's cousin it's a cover…you're an actress you understand."

"I understand some trollop is messing around with my man."

"Trollop…."

"Yea Trollop…."

It seemed in the moment a catfight was about to brew and as much as Jay thought that scene would be all kinds of hot he didn't want to lose his girlfriend over a misunderstanding.

"Manny, this is Maxie. She came into the shop one evening down on her luck and I kind of helped her out. Don't worry your petty little but off though nothing happened."

"Jay's right," Maxie said, "I'm not ready for a relationship and even if I was you've been all he's talked about."

"I have?"

Jay nodded.

"I have."

It was then that something clicked in Manny's ears.

"Wait, you said your name is Maxie."

"Well, to most people its Julie Hogart now but yea…why do you ask?"

"It's just…. Well it's kind of cuckoo bananas but I shared a cab with a guy who was looking for a girl by the name of Maxie and well….how many Maxie's could there be in town?"

Maxie paused thinking that it was Spinelli come to find her but that was impossible right? Spinelli died at the Carnival and so she shook her head and began to passively observe the crowd as Jay and Manny began to dance when suddenly the sounds of the band playing stopped suddenly and a figure stood on the stage…. a figure that made Maxie wonder if her heard somehow stopped and she had passed out dead because it had to be a ghost it just had to.

"I'm sorry for interrupting the ambiance of the evening but my name is Damian Spinelli and well… I've got something I'd like to say…"

**TBC**

**Ok so how do you like this update… be honest? I figure one or two more chapters will happen which will hopefully be posted sometime by the end of the year, key word hopefully… perhaps even my co-writer will come back and give me input.**


	12. Chapter 11

"I've got something I'd like to say…" Spinelli's voice spoke filling the air as a familiar series of notes filled the air causing Maxie to tense up.

"Maxie, are you alright?" Jay asked.

Simply shaking her head, Maxie watched as Spinelli stood at the mic and began to sing the same song that he'd sung during Karaoke night last summer.

**I gotta take a little time**  
><strong>A little time to think things over<strong>  
><strong>I better read between the lines<strong>  
><strong>In case I need it when I'm older<strong>

**Now this mountain I must climb**  
><strong>Feels like a world upon my shoulders<strong>  
><strong>I through the clouds I see love shine<strong>  
><strong>It keeps me warm as life grows colder….<strong>

As he sang Maxie felt herself moving away from Jay and Manny and closer and closer to the stage set up at the far end of the room where her Jackal was singing his heart out.

**In my life there's been heartache and pain**  
><strong>I don't know if I can face it again<strong>  
><strong>Can't stop now, I've traveled so far<strong>  
><strong>To change this lonely life<strong>

**I wanna know what love is**  
><strong>I want you to show me<strong>  
><strong>I wanna feel what love is<strong>  
><strong>I know you can show me….<strong>

She was now pressed up almost against the stage, eyes locked with his as he stopped singing and let the instrumental music continue to fill the air as he took a few steps down and made his way toward her.

"Maximista?" he asked with a questioning tone in his voice as he wasn't used to the dark haired woman that stood before him.

Nodding back Maxie smiled.

"Surprise!" she mouthed.

"I would think you'd be the one surprised…thinking that I was dead and all."

Maxie let out a little laugh.

I am surprised you're here…you are here…I'm not just lying down in Jay's guest room dreaming this up am I?"

Taking Maxie's hand into his Spinelli guided it to his arm and proceeded to make her pinch him causing him to wince.

"Ouch," Spinelli said.

"I think it is supposed to go the other way," Maxie said.

"Now you tell me Maximista."

"And I thought you were the smart one."

And in this moment of playful banter their eyes locked as they leant in for a kiss.

"So," Jay's familiar voice spoke up breaking the kiss apart, "is your boyfriend back from the dead or are you trying to cause a scene?"

Maxie let out a small laugh.

"Jay this is Spinelli…. Spinelli this is Jay, if it wasn't for him one of us really would be dead right now."

Spinelli wished her comment wasn't true but knowing how overly dramatic his girlfriend was he wouldn't doubt her suicidal tendencies one minute.

"I take it dying and breaking this little ladies fragile heart wasn't you're doing?"

Spinelli shook his head.

"It was your father's."

"Mac?"

"I think I broke through to him and if I agree to dump Stone Cold and use my PI license for 'good not evil' then he's willing to give me your blessing."

Maxie let out a squeal as she tossed her arm around Spinelli.

"So then," Jay said, "I take it you're going to head back to New York huh."

"The sooner the better…after all you and Manny need your privacy."

Jay felt mixed emotions as he really did want to spend alone time with his dearest Manuela while she was in town however on the flip side he genuinely would miss Maxie Jones.

"I'm not sentimental and shit normally but…. You promise you'll call when you get settled in back home."

"Just as soon as I head to the salon to fix my hair and hit up Wyndoms to pick up some designer duds."

"Deal," Jay said and as quickly as Maxie breezed into his life she flew out.

**-x-x-x-x-x-x**

**IDK if I should put TBC or The End at this point as IDK if I should end it here or do one final chapter about Spixie back in PC**


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